Spire Insiders Sold US$539k Of Shares Suggesting Hesitancy

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) shareholders might have a reason to worry after multiple insiders sold their shares over the last year. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more beneficial than knowing whether they are selling, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

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Spire Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Independent Director, Maria Fogarty, for US$429k worth of shares, at about US$65.15 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$75.59). As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. It is worth noting that this sale was only 36% of Maria Fogarty's holding.

All up, insiders sold more shares in Spire than they bought, over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

See our latest analysis for Spire

I will like Spire better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insider Ownership Of Spire

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 0.5% of Spire shares, worth about US$23m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Spire Tell Us?

The fact that there have been no Spire insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by Spire insiders. The modest level of insider ownership is, at least, some comfort. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Spire. Be aware that Spire is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is concerning...

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For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.